Core Courses (12 units):

The cornerstone and foundation of the Arts & Letters program involves four core courses. These courses allow students to learn about basic problems in the arts and humanities, while linking them to their personal and professional lives.

These are high quality and intellectually demanding courses originally designed by campus faculty members. All classes will be offered 100% online.

• ALS 101 Texts Over Time: Critically review the function of texts within their cultural contexts
• ALS 102 Individual, Community and Citizenship: Reflect on what makes a responsible citizen
• ALS 103 Creativity, Meaning and Criticism: Identify the sources of creativity and creative production in the arts and humanities
• ALS 104 Happiness, Well Being and the Good Life: Evaluate expressions of happiness that are conveyed in various cultural media 

Core courses will be cohort-based for incoming students, and will be offered in pairings of two courses per semester. Students can complete the program in as few as two semesters!

Major Requirements (36 units):

Students will be assessed and advised upon admission to the program to determine the best combination of coursework to ensure satisfaction of the major requirements.

A. Required Upper Division Core Courses (12 units)

• ALS 101 Texts Over Time (3 units)
• ALS 102 Individual, Community, and Citizenship (3 units)
• ALS 103 Creativity, Meaning, and Criticism (3 units)
• ALS 104 Happiness, Well-Being, and the Good Life (3 units)

Students must select an additional 24 units from the following categories. At least 12 additional units must be upper-division for a total of at least 24 upper-division units.

*Please note: the following is a list of courses that have been offered in the program to meet major category requirements. A limited selection of courses is available each term, including at least one from each major category.*

B. Language – Communication and Expression (6 units)   

• COMS 121 Media Aesthetics
• FREN 120 French Civilization
• ENGL 109W Preparing to Write in the Disciplines
• JOUR 172 Women in the Mass Media
• HRS 168 Images of America   

C. Literature – Texts, Ideas and Ideals (6 units)

• COMS 121 Media Aesthetics
• HIST 177 African-American Experience, 1603 to Present
• HIST 162 Social History of the U.S.     
• HIST 110 The Ancient Near East: A Cultural History
• HRS 119 Classical Mythology                               

D. Arts and Music – The Creative Process (6 Units) 

• COMS 121 Media Aesthetics
• MUSC 118D Hip-Hop in Urban America
• DNCE 131 Dance Cultures of America
• THEA 175 Multicultural Perspectives in American Film

E. Philosophy – Meaning and Critique (6 units)

• COMS 121 Media Aesthetics
• PHIL 112 History of Ethics
• PHIL 125 Philosophy of Science
• PHIL 131 Philosophy of Religion
• HRS 155 Spirit & Nature
• HIST 174B History of Madness in the U.S.

Advising            

Students will work closely with program advisors to ensure satisfactory completion of all university-wide general education and graduation requirements. Where possible, these can be overlapped with courses taken to satisfy B-E above.

Faculty Advisors:

• David Toise, English
• Melinda Wilson-Ramey, Theatre & Dance
• Shawna Malvini Redden, Communication Studies